Welcome

Welcome to the POZ Community Forums, a round-the-clock discussion area for people with HIV/AIDS, their friends/family/caregivers, and
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nycvisitor -- that's an inappropriate question and you should not be posting[/b] in this section of the aidsmeds forums. Please go and read the Welcome Thread in the Am I Infected section. I'm reporting this post to the moderators and suggest that ocbuy79 ignore you.

btw, ocguy79 -- welcome to the AIDSmeds forums and I'm sorry that you had to encounter something like this on your very first post on the board. It's not normally like this here. I'm sorry that you just tested positive though, but we're all here to lend you some support.

nycvisitor -- that's an inappropriate question and you should not be posting[/b] in this section of the aidsmeds forums. Please go and read the Welcome Thread in the Am I Infected section. I'm reporting this post to the moderators and suggest that ocbuy79 ignore you.

btw, ocguy79 -- welcome to the AIDSmeds forums and I'm sorry that you had to encounter something like this on your very first post on the board. It's not normally like this here. I'm sorry that you just tested positive though, but we're all here to lend you some support.

No problem. If you want a quick course on HIV and treatment issues, go to the top of this page and click on "Treatment" and then "Lessons" -- but of course we're always here to answer any additional questions.

How are otherwise in terms of support during your first week, month etc.? The mental component of having HIV should not be overlooked.

OC, now that we've gotten that ridiculous bit of rudeness out of the way, let's get back to focusing on you.

Being shocked is par for the course at the beginning when you test positive. We're glad you found your way here. You'll find a lot of people here who've been where you are right now and will share their knowledge and experience with you.

It's important for you to get a doctor you can be partners with in keeping you healthy and regularly monitoring your numbers. They are likely to jump around for a while before a clear sense of where you are at can be determined. So give it some months for settling down.

You don't have to rush to do anything right now. Give yourself time to get adjusted to this new time in your life. Gradually you will learn what you need to. Just as a general piece of information I'll say that if you're having anal intercourse, make sure that whoever is the insertive partner is always wearing a condom. No exceptions. You need to know that there are thousands of sero-discordant couples who are having good lives together in every way including sexually.

OC, now that we've gotten that ridiculous bit of rudeness out of the way, let's get back to focusing on you.

Being shocked is par for the course at the beginning when you test positive. We're glad you found your way here. You'll find a lot of people here who've been where you are right now and will share their knowledge and experience with you.

It's important for you to get a doctor you can be partners with in keeping you healthy and regularly monitoring your numbers. They are likely to jump around for a while before a clear sense of where you are at can be determined. So give it some months for settling down.

You don't have to rush to do anything right now. Give yourself time to get adjusted to this new time in your life. Gradually you will learn what you need to. Just as a general piece of information I'll say that if you're having anal intercourse, make sure that whoever is the insertive partner is always wearing a condom. No exceptions. You need to know that there are thousands of sero-discordant couples who are having good lives together in every way including sexually.

Thank you Andy,I do have a really good doctor down here who's majority of patiants are HIV as he is a gay doctor himself.I am signing up for a HIV Reserch program starting in april. That will help with the cost for now as well.

Hey ocguy,Welcome to the forum. I have been diagnosed for almost 8 weeks now. I am still have a tough time, but it does get better with time. Get yourself a good support system in place. Talk, write out your feelings on paper and on this forum. It has helped me a lot to have a place to write about my feelings and sort of give them air and let them dissipate here. Do what you have to do. Scheduling some time to do something other than think about this all the time helps too. It helped me to focus on my non-hiv positive life too. I dived right into total research mode and read up on the meds and clinical stuff. If you have insurance problems, you might try getting in a group plan through a chamber of commerce or something. You don't have to worry about a waiting period, pre-existing conditions or anything like that. Hope that your adjustment to this goes well and if you need anything, you can feel free to pm me.matt

Hey ocguy,Welcome to the forum. I have been diagnosed for almost 8 weeks now. I am still have a tough time, but it does get better with time. Get yourself a good support system in place. Talk, write out your feelings on paper and on this forum. It has helped me a lot to have a place to write about my feelings and sort of give them air and let them dissipate here. Do what you have to do. Scheduling some time to do something other than think about this all the time helps too. It helped me to focus on my non-hiv positive life too. I dived right into total research mode and read up on the meds and clinical stuff. If you have insurance problems, you might try getting in a group plan through a chamber of commerce or something. You don't have to worry about a waiting period, pre-existing conditions or anything like that. Hope that your adjustment to this goes well and if you need anything, you can feel free to pm me.matt

OC guy- You are in the exact same situation as I was. I was diagnosed last March at age 28 and my levels were almost coincidentally similar to yours. First, do as much research as you can. Surprisingly, it doesn't take long to get the basics of where we are with HIV/AIDS in 2009, although the education is ongoing. Be happy and thankful that it is 2009. I hope you can have a core group of whether it be friends, family, or a support group in which you can express/discuss everything relating to this. I am so thankful(after being terrified to tell everyone) that my family and friends are sticking by me. I often discuss my feelings, their feelings, educate them, and everything in between. Most importantly to you, I know where you are mentally at this moment. Remember to breath and try to be rational with it. I'm not sure if you were like me, but I kind of had a feeling going in what the results would be. I ended up on meds a few months later and I'm already undetectable. It is absolutely amazing how far science and advancement in the cure for this often shameful and dreadful (in the gay community) disease has come. I am thankful everyday. Keep a positive outlook on life. Life for me has not changed, I am just adapting to what bumps are in the road, this one will just be with me forever. It's okay. I hope you are doing well.

OC guy- You are in the exact same situation as I was. I was diagnosed last March at age 28 and my levels were almost coincidentally similar to yours. First, do as much research as you can. Surprisingly, it doesn't take long to get the basics of where we are with HIV/AIDS in 2009, although the education is ongoing. Be happy and thankful that it is 2009. I hope you can have a core group of whether it be friends, family, or a support group in which you can express/discuss everything relating to this. I am so thankful(after being terrified to tell everyone) that my family and friends are sticking by me. I often discuss my feelings, their feelings, educate them, and everything in between. Most importantly to you, I know where you are mentally at this moment. Remember to breath and try to be rational with it. I'm not sure if you were like me, but I kind of had a feeling going in what the results would be. I ended up on meds a few months later and I'm already undetectable. It is absolutely amazing how far science and advancement in the cure for this often shameful and dreadful (in the gay community) disease has come. I am thankful everyday. Keep a positive outlook on life. Life for me has not changed, I am just adapting to what bumps are in the road, this one will just be with me forever. It's okay. I hope you are doing well.

I was terrified of the costs and thank god my mother is fully supporting me and has been paying for them. But my meds are $140 for a 3 month supply. After doing some research from the 80's, 90's, and even today... that is still no reason to complain. I'm just happy my mother is able to help me out with all the bills that comes along with being a positive male. I hope my post helped put things into perspective. I've always been pretty rational about situations.

I am so sorry you are here. I was completely shocked when I learned about my diagnosis. Though, I was quite sick, so, at least I knew and had some options to help.

The medicine is amazing. My initial VL was 770,709!!! But, it is now undetectable. Keep your chin up. Make friends on here. Make friends in real life, too. See a therapist if you need to to sort through this stuff. Find out what your resources are: check with your local ASO (AIDS Service Organization). They are a great help, usually.

Ive been poz for a little over a year. The shock of finding out is still fresh in my mind...so I can empathize with your feelings right now. The thing that helped me most was going through the lessons on here Under the "treatment" tab....seriously dont overlook it, it helps tremendously.

My numbers are actually pretty close to yours at the moment. I can tell you from experience that the numbers bounce around ALOT and your doctors will probably want to get 2 or 3 tests under your belt to establish a good baseline.

I was terribly naive when I was diagnosed and thought that HIV meant immediate AIds and then death. Nothing could be farther from the truth...the meds available today have turned HIV into a manageable chronic condition, with a near normal lifespan. Today I feel fine, I look the same, and my penis has not fallen off

Relax and take some time to go through the lessons and get a handle on what the numbers mean, etc... and ask anything you like no matter how trivial, there are no stupid questions. The people here are a Godsend they've helped me through alot

Ive been poz for a little over a year. The shock of finding out is still fresh in my mind...so I can empathize with your feelings right now. The thing that helped me most was going through the lessons on here Under the "treatment" tab....seriously dont overlook it, it helps tremendously.

My numbers are actually pretty close to yours at the moment. I can tell you from experience that the numbers bounce around ALOT and your doctors will probably want to get 2 or 3 tests under your belt to establish a good baseline.

I was terribly naive when I was diagnosed and thought that HIV meant immediate AIds and then death. Nothing could be farther from the truth...the meds available today have turned HIV into a manageable chronic condition, with a near normal lifespan. Today I feel fine, I look the same, and my penis has not fallen off

Relax and take some time to go through the lessons and get a handle on what the numbers mean, etc... and ask anything you like no matter how trivial, there are no stupid questions. The people here are a Godsend they've helped me through alot

HugsWill

Well its good to know my penis wont fall off! I'll check out that info. Thanks for the reply.